Swaziland - Politics

From the mid-1980s there was building pressure for a return to multiparty democracy. The reintroduction of universal adult suffrage in 1993 only served to increase this pressure. There was from the mid-1990s a succession of strikes organised by the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions and increasingly public activity by opposition movements.

A Constitutional Review Commission was set up in July 1996 to solicit the views of the Swazi nation on the type of constitution they wanted, by visiting all the constituencies in the country and then submitting a report, including a draft new constitution by 1998.

Elections for pre-selected candidates were held in October 1998. About 60% of the registered voters cast their vote. The King confirmed Dr Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini as prime minister and announced his new cabinet, which included Senator A R V Khoza as deputy prime minister and Senator John Carmichael as finance minister. Most of the 16 ministers were royal appointees rather than elected members of parliament.

The Constitutional Review Commission finally presented its report to the King in November 2000, but it was not published. In 2001 the King attempted to give himself additional powers to contain the pressure for constitutional reform but climbed down in the face of national and international protests. In August 2001 he called a national gathering and the Commission’s chairperson announced – to an audience of only about 10,000 people (the last national gathering was attended by 250,000) – that the King’s powers were to be enlarged but gave no details of the fruits of the five-year review.

Subsequently the King set up a new commission to draft a new constitution and the draft was released in May 2003. However, under this constitution the country remains an absolute monarchy. The Assembly is to include at least nine women members (of an increased total of up to 76) and the Senate 13 (of up to 31). Though freedom of assembly is allowed and the ban on political parties therefore technically lifted, under the continuing tinkhundla election system there is no role for parties.

Assembly and Senate elections for the pre-selected candidates were held in October 2003 and the turnout was again low, especially in urban areas. A Commonwealth expert team was present. It said that while there were shortcomings ‘the elections were well conducted’, but that ‘no elections can be credible when they are for a parliament which does not have power and when political parties are banned’. In November 2003 the King confirmed A T Dlamini as prime minister.

The new constitution – drafted by the commission which was chaired by Prince David Dlamini – was approved by parliament and signed by the King in July 2005. It came into effect in February 2006.

In the first elections under the new constitution, a new parliament was elected in September 2008. The election was observed by a Commonwealth expert team. The King appointed Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini as prime minister; he had previously served in that position 1996–2003.